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THE GREAT SALVATION 



Bishop THOMAS BOWMAN, D. D. 



AUTHOR OF 

"Historical Review and of 
"The revised Catechism of the 
Evangelical Association/' 



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LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

FEB 27 1909 

Copyrlgnt Entry _ 
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Copyright, 1909, by J. H. LAMB, Agt. 



PREFACE. 

TN the year of our Lord 1906, I wrote a 
series of Articles for the Evangelical 
Messenger, at the request of Rev. S. P. 
Spreng, then the efficient editor of our 
English weekly. At the session of the East 
Pennsylvania Conference of that year a 
resolution was adopted, requesting me to 
prepare the same and publish them in a 
small volume. However, constant pressure 
of work in the performance of my episcopal 
duties prevented me from complying with 
the request. 

Since a commencement has been made in 
publishing the "Albright Series", our able 
and energetic Publisher, Rev. J. H. Lamb, 
has repeatedly and urgently requested me 
to enlarge those articles for a book for this 

3 



4: Preface. 

series, and having reached the age when 
I feel justified in taking things a little 
easier, I have taken time to comply with 
the request. 

While the size of the volume necessitated 
me to be as brief as possible, it was also 
my purpose to write as plainly as possible 
on the doctrines pertaining to our personal 
salvation. These doctrines have always 
been emphasized by the ministry of our 
beloved Church, and I hope and trust ever 
will be Salvation from all Sin in this life 
has been the keynote of the ministry of the 
Evangelical Association. For upholding 
and maintaining this blessed Truth of God 
she has been reviled and persecuted, but 
thank God has nevertheless stood firm and 
true to her mission and calling. 

This small unpretentious volume is sent 
forth with the hope that under the blessing 
of God it may prove a blessing to both old 
and young. THOMAS BOWMAN. 



DEDICATION. 

jHIS volume is effectionately dedicated 
to my beloved wife, who for half a 
century has so nobly stood by me in my 
work through all these years, as a Help- 
meet and Counsellor in days of good and 
evil report, in days of adversity as well as 
in days of prosperity, and has cheerfully 
borne with me the labor and sacrifice in- 
cident to the Itinerancy. 

And in the evening of life as we are still 
walking together it is light although the 
shadows are falling. 

THOMAS BOWMAN. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Original State of Man 9 

II. The Ruin caused by Transgression .... 14 
III. God's merciful Provision for Man's 

Restoration 21 

IV. The biblical Conditions of Salvation.. 27 

V. Justification 37 

VI. The Washing of Regeneration 45 

VII. The Witness of the Spirit 57 

VIII. Are Believer's wholly sanctified in Con- 
version 68 

IX. Progress in the Divine Life 78 

X. What is implied in Entire Sanctification 87 
XI. Is Entire Sanctification attainable in 

this Life 99 

XII. How may we attain unto the Blessing of 

Perfect Love 115 



Chapter I. 

THE ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN. 

All Scripture from Genesis to Revelation 
agrees in representing man as the noblest 
work of God — the crowning work of crea- 
tion. This fact stands out boldly in the 
declaration made by the Creator: "Let us 
make man in our own image, after our own 
likeness" from which it would seem that 
man's creation was the result of a special 
•consultation of the Godhead. 

All that God had previously made was 
worthy of Himself, good in their nature, 
and perfect in their kind; but none of His 
creatures were capable of contemplating 
their Creator in His work, nor of adoring 
Him as their Maker. Nor was there one 
who could understand the will of God, or 

9 



10 The Great Salvation. * 

commune with Him, or render Him ser- 
vice, or feel emotions of gratitude toward 
Him, or even be conscious of the existence 
of God. After the mansion was constructed 
and furnished its intelligent and rational 
inhabitant was formed. 

Man was formed out of the dust of the 
ground and then God breathed into his 
nostrils the breath of life, and he became 
a living soul. This account gives expres- 
sion to man's two-fold nature, body and 
soul or spirit. The first was derived from 
the earth, the latter by Divine inspiration. 
These two substances, however, are so 
closely united that they form one person, 
bearing the Divine image. 

As God is a Spirit, the Scriptures must 
be understood as teaching that it was the 
spirit of man that was formed in the like- 
ness of God. We cannot conceive how a 
body could be formed in the image of a 
spirit, but we may conceive it possible for 
one spirit to resemble another spirit, the 



The Original State of Man. 11 

same as one body may resemble another. 
The soul of man was made spiritual in its 
nature and immortal in its duration— made 
in the image of God's spirituality and 
eternity. Man was also made like God in 
his intellectual faculties, having under- 
standing and will. This latter is usually 
called the natural image of God in His 
creatures, which according to Col. 3: 10 
and Eph. 4: 24, consisted in knowledge, 
righteousness and true holiness, hence a 
being of distinguished excellence and moral 
rectitude. His maker had not only pro- 
nounced him good, but "very good." 
Good physically, intellectually, and mor- 
ally, by which undoubtedly we are to un- 
derstand the absence of all evil and the 
possession of all that was pure and holy. 
His love to God supreme, his will in con- 
formity with the will of his Maker, hence 
a perfect moral being. His nature was 
unstained and uncorrupted, his affections 
pure, he stood upright in the presence of 



12 The Great Salvation. 

God. Having been created in righteous- 
ness and holiness, his nature was not " sin- 
ful' 9 as is the case with the human family 
now, but he was holy, harmless, and unde- 
filed. 

With such a nature it certainly ought 
to have been an easy matter to have main- 
tained his innocence and uprightness, not- 
withstanding the fact that, as the sequel 
shows, he was liable to temptation, air 
though perfect in holiness. 

He was placed in a probationary state, 
and as a rational being and a free agent he 
was a proper subject for moral govern- 
ment, and as such he owed obedience to 
God. It cannot be conceived that God 
should require less, nor that less could 
insure the happiness of the creature. He 
had not only been crowned with under- 
standing, but also with a holy will. But 
he had also been crowned with liberty, 
and with a capacity for choosing good or 
evil. Without these he would have been 



The Original State of Man. 13 

incapable of virtue of any kind, as in- 
capable "as a block of marble.' ' 

Obedience, however, with Adam did not 
have the clogs and internal oppositions and 
outward difficulties as is the case with us, 
and yet as Dr. Watson well says : ' c It was 
however a state which required watchful- 
ness, effort, and prayer, and denial of ap- 
petites and passions/' 

We will have occasion in a later chapter 
to refer to these conditions again. 



14 The Great Salvation. 



Chapter II. 

THE RUIN CAUSED BY TRANS- 
GRESSION. 

That man in his present physical, in- 
tellectual and moral condition is not what 
he was when he came from the hands of 
his Creator is so obvious that it is a gen- 
erally admitted fact. Everywhere we see 
mankind alienated from their Maker. 
Everywhere we see the prince of darkness 
usurping the throne of the Most High. 
Instead of being "very good" we now find 
man "of his own nature inclined to evil 
and that continually" as expressed in the 
doctrine of our Church. 

We find man perverse in his will, cor- 
rupt in his affections, a slave to his evil 
passions, an alien to God, and a stranger 
to peace. With capacities which are al- 



The Ruin Caused by Transgression. 15 

most boundless, he is infatuated with 
bubbles. With an intense desire for happi- 
ness he follows a course which results in 
wretchedness and ruin ; so that evil is found 
everywhere, a state well described in Reve- 
lation as " Death with hell following after.' ' 

The pauper's trembling hand, the sick 
man's sunken cheek, the maniac's shriek, 
the drunkard's howl, the savage utterances 
of hate and revenge, the grinding and dis- 
content of the poor, the unsatiableness and 
avarice of the rich, the tears and the woes 
of human society everywhere among civ- 
ilized or barbarian, prove beyond all con- 
troversy that there is evil in the world. 

The Scriptures declare that all these 
woes are the result of Sin—o£ the trans- 
gression of the law by our first parents, 
"that through the sin of the first man, 
Adam, the entire race became sinful," 
hence that the seat of evil is in the soul, 
and that this sinful condition is universal. 



16 The Great Saltation. 

Sin has set up its tyranny deep within 
the commonwealth of the human soul, and 
in consequence of its tyranny and despot- 
ism evil abounds in the world, "for out 
of the heart are the issues of life. ? ' The 
incomparable Teacher, our blessed Lord 
and Christ, sets all discussion on this point 
at rest. He says: "Out of the heart pro- 
ceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 
fornications, theft, false witness, blas- 
phemies; these are the things which defile 
a man." The Holy Spirit had also taught 
thus in the earlier history of the race: 
"The imagination of the thoughts of his 
heart was only evil continually, even from 
his youth.' ' No language could more 
forcibly express that the tendency to evil 
is a part of man's moral constitution, that 
sin has its seat in the heart, yea in the 
imagination of the thoughts of his heart, 
hence in the very inmost being of his nature. 
Evil is intertwined in the very fibre of his 
being, and blends itself with all his emo- 



The Ruin Caused by Transgression. 17 

tions, and consequently with all his ac- 
tions; so that "all have sinned, and come 
short of the glory of God." 

This state of man is not only properly 
denominated sinful, but is emphatically 
called Sin. It is the fountain and life- 
spring of sin. It furnishes the energy 
and activity of sin. And because it has 
thus attached itself to the soul, it has been 
called "indwelling sin." It is not like a 
decayed tooth which may be separated-— 
extracted— by some external process from 
the rest of the body without defiling the 
body, but it has it seat as "the body of 
sin" within the individual, in his inner 
and deeper consciousness, it is like sap that 
dwells and works within always ready to 
break out at every bud. 

This state the Scriptures call "the law 
of sin," the law in our members because it 
rules in our mortal bodies as a mighty 
tyrant in the kingdom which he has 
usurped. It is called "the old man" be- 



18 The Great Salvation. 

cause it is inherited from Adam, and be- 
cause it is as old as the first stamina of our 
frame, and closely interwoven therewith. 
It is called "the flesh/' because it comes 
by generation and is always opposed to the 
spirit. It is called ' i the natural man, ' ' be- 
cause it does not receive the things of God, 
as they are foolishness unto him. It is 
called "the carnal mind," because it is at 
enmity with God, and is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be. It 
is also called "concupiscence/' which 
Fletcher terms that mystical Jezebel who 
brings forth the almost infinite variety of 
fleshly and worldly lusts which war against 
the soul. 

The doctrine of the Scripture is clear and 
emphatic on the following points. First, 
that all men without exception sin against 
God. Secondly, that this is not the result 
of example, but flows from the sinful con- 
dition of the heart. Thirdly, that this de- 
pravity is hereditary, the result of Adam's 



The Ruin Caused by Transgression. \9 

apostasy. "By one man's disobedience 
many were made sinners/' Adam had 
been created in the likeness of God, but 
Adam begat a son in his own likeness, de- 
praved and sinful. Thus the Word ac- 
counts for the general depravity of the 
race, and the universal wickedness of man. 
roots of Satan's tyranny, the despotism 
of sin, and the wretchedness of man- 
ism of sin, and the wretchedness of man- 
kind are in the inmost soul of man. Hence 
whatever in the domain of religion does 
not reach these roots is superficial and dis- 
appointing. If liberty is to be more than 
a name then this inward anarchy must be 
healed, and the grinding tyranny must be 
overthrown. The Philistine and the Ama- 
lekite must be expelled. The internal var- 
iance between conscience and the affec- 
tions must be brought to an end. 

It is furthermore evident that as the 
seat of the difficulty is within, salvation 
cannot be attained by outward observ- 



20 The Great Salvation. 

ances. The strong man of sin must be 
attacked and destroyed in his own citadel 
— in his own stronghold. This stronghold 
cannot be reached by the merit of bodily 
services or austerities or sacraments. The 
nature of man cannot be changed by an 
army, or a fleet, or a treasury, or by law. 
Mind can only be reached by mind. Spirit 
can only be influenced by Spirit. Our 
fallen nature, our evil propensities, our 
perverse wills, our depraved affections, 
can only be reached by the renewing and 
sanctifying influences of the creative 
Spirit of God.-— Man must again be made 
in the likeness of God. 



God's Provision for Man's Restoration. 21 



Chapter III. 

GOD'S MERCIFUL PROVISION FOR 
MAN'S RESTORATION. 

It is a faithful saying and worthy of all 
acceptation that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners. The Scriptures 
plainly teach that there is no other Name 
given among men whereby they may be 
saved. He is declared to be the Saviour 
of all men, but especially of them that be- 
lieve. His Name shall be called Jesus, be- 
cause He saves His people from their sins. 
Men are commanded to behold Him as 
the Lamb of God which taketh away the 
sin of the world. He, being the express 
image of the Father's person, in whom 
dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bod- 
ily, is set forth among us as our Saviour, 
our only Saviour, our Propiation, our Be- 



22 The Great Salvation. 

deemer, our Ransom, our Atonement, our 
Reconciler, and our Mediator, through 
whom alone we have access unto the 
Father, through whose death we are de- 
livered from condemnation, by whom we 
obtain every blessing of the covenant, and 
finally everlasting life. 

The Scriptures declare that Christ's 
expiation was necessary in order to har- 
monize the claim's of justice with the pur- 
poses of mercy. Furthermore the Scrip- 
tures assign to the death of Christ, in al- 
most endless variation of phraseology and 
representation, expiatory efficacy, in His 
character as the great High Priest of our 
profession. Having died for our sins, He 
rose again for our justification, in whom 
we have redemption through His blood, 
even the remission of our sins and the 
sanctification of our spirits. God so loved 
the world, that He gave His only begotten 
Son, that all who believe in Him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life. 



God's Provision for Man's Restoration. 23 

The Atonement made by Christ then is 
for the entire human race. It is fully 
adapted to our condition. It meets all our 
necessities. It revokes every curse incur- 
red. It restores every blessing forfeited, 
or gives in exchange a more glorious in- 
heritance. Its adaptation has been shown 
in all ages, and in all climes, and among 
men of all grades. Jesus has made an 
atonement for all, and His blood cleans- 
eth from all sin. Our High Priest, pos- 
sessing every attribute, assuming every 
title, and exercising every prerogative of 
Deity, is appropriately designated as the 
brightness of the Father's glory, and the 
express image of His person, was the vic- 
tim for our transgressions. The dignity 
of the nature of this glorious Being In- 
carnate gave an infinite virtue to His death. 
It renders Him an Almighty Saviour and 
proclaims Him as being able to save to the 
uttermost all that come unto God by Him. 



24 The Great Salvation, 

Furthermore the Scriptures teach that 
our Redemption is not only possible but 
instantly practicable. Not only that an 
Atonement has been made for us— an 
Atonement of boundless efficacy— but that 
also an Atonement may be wrought within 
us, consciously wrought within us, through 
a subjection of the flesh to the spirit, and 
that the whole man may be sanctified 
wholly, and brought under the dominion 
of the Spirit of God; so that we are not 
only in the kingdom of God, but that the 
kingdom is also within us. Hence the 
Dispensation of Christ bears on its very 
front the tidings of an unspeakable gift, 
in the formula of our Baptism, namely, 
that there is a Holy Spirit, and proposes 
to every one of its converts the great ques- 
tion, Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
when ye believed? 

Surely after we have received the pardon 
of our sins our Conscience needs to be 
purified from dead works in order to serve 



God's Provision for Man's Restoration. 25 

the living God. In view of our sinfulness 
does this not become the prime need of 
man? Every view of the kingdom of 
Heaven which overlooks this spiritual ele- 
ment in its fundamental character does the 
Kingdom and the Church injury, and must 
cause corruption. The Holy Spirit is the 
great primal agency in the upbuilding and 
in advancing the spiritual domain of God 
on earth, therefore whatever grieves or 
repels Him, or whatever doctrine imprisons 
Him, in certain ordinances, or mortgages 
Him to any one ecclesiastical commun- 
ion, or to a certain order of men, or ne- 
glects to teach our dependence upon Him, 
is a hindrance to the cause of Christ, and 
a misrepresentation of the Truth. 

The Spirit and the blood are essentially 
united. They bear witness together. 
Where the Atonement is denied the Spirit 
is not given. A mission never prospered, 
a revival never occurred, a reformation 
was never effected when the doctrine above 



26 The Great Salvation, 

stated was rejected. Without this doctrine 
there is no efficacy in prayer, no access to 
the Throne of grace, no power with God 
or with men. He who rejects the Atone- 
ment and the influence of the Spirit re- 
jects the only means of salvation which 
God has provided for mankind. 

No wonder in view of the stupendous 
fact of our salvation through Christ that 
the apostles gloried in the Cross. That 
they considered it all gain to know Christ, 
that they accounted His reproach an honor, 
no wonder they could find no words ade- 
quately to express His mighty love, and 
the joy and peace and consolation it 
brought, and thank God still brings to the 
believing trusting soul. 



The Biblical Conditio?! of Salvation. 2fl 



Chapter IV. 

THE BIBLICAL CONDITIONS OF 
SALVATION. 

1. Repentance. 

St. Paul in his farewell address to the 
elders of the church at Ephesus declared 
that he kept back nothing in his preaching 
which was profitable, that he testified both 
to Jews and also to the Greeks, the neces- 
sity of repentance toward God and faith 
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. In this 
respect he had followed Peter, who on the 
day of Pentecost, after speaking of the 
death of Christ and His glorious resurrec- 
tion, cried out: "Repent and be baptized, 
every one of you in the name of Jesus 
Christ for the remission of sins, and ye 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
And both of these eminent apostles had 



28 The Great Salvation. 

followed the example of their Master who 
commenced His public ministry by saying, 
Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand. 

The Scriptures teach the absolute neces- 
sity of repentance in order to obtain the 
blessings of the Atonement and in the end 
everlasting life. The sinner's repentance 
however must not be considered in the 
light of satisfaction to Divine justice, that 
would be transferring the act of atonement 
from Christ to the sinner, which is assigned 
expressly and solely to the blood of Christ. 
No act of man can atone, only the sacri- 
ficial death of our Lord. , 

The necessity of repentance is evident 
also from the nature of true religion, the 
essence of which is love to God and love 
toward our fellow men. The impenitent 
are represented "as hateful and hating 
one another/ ' of which the jealousies in 
modern society, as well as in the past, fur- 
nish indisputable evidence. The Scrip- 



The Biblical Condition of Salvation. 29 

tures teach the impenitent are under the 
control of the * i carnal mind, ' ' and that the 
carnal mind is enmity against God, nor is 
the fear of God before their eyes. No im- 
penitent person therefore can take pleasure 
in the law of the Lord, nor perform the 
duties of religion, or have fellowship with 
God, for all these are spiritual exercises, 
while he is carnal sold under sin. The 
impenitent sinner could not enjoy the bliss 
and the employments of heaven itself, for 
his moral condition would be entirely out 
of harmony with the nature of the Holy 
City of God. Without repentance there 
can be no peace with God on earth, and 
no crown of glory in the world to come. 

The nature of repentance may be con- 
sidered both as the gift of God and the 
duty of man. One of its essential elements 
is a deep and heartfelt sorrow on account 
of sin. This state of mind cannot be pro- 
duced by ourselves. Nothing short of the 
Divine agency can produce that godly sor- 



30 The Great Salvation. 

row which worketh repentance unto life, 
and hence evangelical repentance must be 
regarded as the work of the Holy Spirit 
However we must not suppose that we 
have nothing whatever to do with it. This 
would contradict the teaching of the Scrip- 
tures as God commands all men every- 
where to repent. "Repent ye therefore 
and be converted that your sins may be 
blotted out." 

The Scriptures speak of a state of mind 
where sin becomes "exceeding sinful." 
Where by the work of the Holy Spirit, 
who our Lord says "when He is come, 
will convict the world in respect of sin 
and of righteousness, and of judgement," 
There has been such a clear discovery of 
the great evil of sin, that it may properly 
be called conviction of sin. "Fools make 
a mock of sin, ' ' but to those who are truly 
of a contrite spirit sin appears trerrible, 
and fraught with the most fearful con- 
sequences. That sin is an injury done to 



The Biblical Condition of Salvation. 31 

God, an affront to His authority, an in- 
sult to their Benefactor, and hence has 
justly rendered them loathsome in the sight 
of God. Confession of sin before God fol- 
lows as a natural consequence. 

The Scriptures also teach that real re- 
pentance includes reformation. In fact 
without this there is and there can be no 
repentance unto salvation. "Let the wick- 
ed forsake his way and the unrighteous 
man his thought; and let him return unto 
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon 
him." "Let every one that nameth the 
name of Christ depart from iniquity." 
Nothing is more clearly set forth, and made 
more emphatic by the Word than that 
men must cease to do evil and learn to 
do well if they would receive mercy. Re- 
nunciation of sin is one of the cardinal 
doctrines of our holy religion. Ye cannot 
serve God and Mammon says the great 
Teacher. Christ has come to save us from 
our sins, not in our sins. Come out from 



32 The Great Salvation. 

among them and be ye separate and I will 
be your Father, and ye shall be called my 
sons and my daughters saith the Lord. 

2. Faith. 

To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in 
order to be saved is so plainly taught in 
the Scriptures that there can be no differ- 
ence of opinion. Hence it is of the great- 
est importance properly to understand the 
real nature of faith, especially in view of 
the declaration of St. James that even 
devils believe, of which we have several 
instances in the history of the life of our 
Lord. The unclean spirit in the demoniac 
of Gadara cried with a loud voice, What 
have I to do with Thee Jesus, Thou Son 
of the most high God. On another occasion 
an evil spirit addressed our Lord as Jesus 
of Nazareth and added, I know Thee who 
Thou art, the Holy One of God. More- 
over it is evident that men as well as 



The Biblical Condition of Salvation. 33 

devils may believe in Christ and in Di- 
vine truth without having received justi- 
fying grace. St. John tells us that among 
the chief rulers many believed on Him, 
but because of the Pharisees they did not 
confess Him, lest they should be put out 
of the synagogue, for they loved the praise 
of men more than the praise of God. Of 
Simon Magus it is asserted that he be- 
lieved, and even that he was baptized, 
thus openly professing his faith in Christ ; 
but soon afterwards Peter said to him : Thy 
heart is not right in the sight of God, Thou 
art in the gall of bitterness and in the 
bond of iniquity. 

In view of these facts is it not well to 
inquire into the nature of the faith which 
makes for righteousness. What is the 
essence, the reality of faith in Jesus 
Christ? What is it in our times that 
makes one man's faith in God merely a 
religious form without power, and an- 
other man's faith a power unto salvation 



34 The Great Salvation. 

and a working force in society? Faith 
cannot be a substitute for righteousness. 
The idea which is so prevalent that God 
will accept assent to certain forms of 
Truth in the place of holiness is a super- 
stition as unscriptural and immoral as any 
superstition of middle age Papacy. The as- 
sumption that men can lead selfish and 
covetous lives, and yet reach heaven be- 
cause they have accepted some creed needs 
to be eliminated from the religious thought 
of Protestantism as much as the sale of 
indulgences from Romanism in the days 
of Luther. There is no salvation from sin 
other than the abandonment of sin. A man 
is not justified by faith unless faith has 
made him just. 

The faith which is required as a condi- 
tion of salvation always includes confi- 
dence or unshaken trust in God. The 
faith by which the elders obtained a good 
report was clearly of this character, unit- 
ing a noble confidence in the word and 



The Biblical Condition of Salvation. 35 

promises of God as well as assent to the 
truth of revelation. "In His name shall 
the Gentiles trust.' 9 "In whom ye also 
trusted after that ye heard the word of 
truth. " This trust in God leads us to re- 
nounce every other refuge and accept and 
receive Christ as our personal Saviour, 
committing the keeping of oui souls into 
His hands in humble confidence in His 
ability and willingness to save us. 

Such a faith unites the will of man 
with the will of God. The conscience, the 
will and the affections harmonize with the 
understanding in consigning oneself to 
Christ. Eeal faith works by love and 
brings forth the fruit of obedience. Faith 
is that action which surrenders all one's 
interests to the getting of God's will done 
on earth as it is in heaven. Faith is co- 
operation, partnership, friendship with 
God, so that the man of real faith is not 
his own man, but God's man. He listens 
only to the voice of God in order to learn 



36 The Great Salvation. 

what God wants to have done. His lan- 
guage is, What wilt Trou have me do? 
Hence he gives himself up to working the 
work of God, and will tolerate nothing in 
himself which conflicts with the will of 
God. He knows that Christ is within him, 
and notwithstanding his own weakness, he 
will be able to overcome the world. This 
consciousness is the power of faith and 
surrender to Christ is its essence. ' i Lord 
increase our Faith " 



Justification. 37 

Chapter V. 
JUSTIFICATION. 

Having very briefly set forth the ample 
provisions of the Love of God for our Re- 
demption, and referred to the conditions 
upon which we are saved, we come now to 
speak of some of the benefits which flow 
to us in consequence of the Redemption 
that is in Christ Jesus. 

When we say the benefits which flow to 
us in consequence of the Atonement it 
must be understood that reference can 
only be had to those particular benefits 
which the Scriptures term Salvation, yea 
the great Salvation. In what does it con- 
sist ? Is it a mere name, or is it a reality ? 
Is the Gospel of God a mere theory, or 
plan, or philosophy or form, or is it the 
power of God unto Salvation ? In answer- 
ing these questions we will first speak of 
our Justification by Faith. This blessing 



38 The Great Salvation. 

is of the same importance in experimental 
and practical Christianity as is the Atone- 
ment to the doctrinal fabric of our holy 
religion. Luther designated the doctrine 
of justification by faith as "the grand 
distinction betwixt a standing and a falling 
church. ' 9 Wesley says : ' ' Nothing but this 
can effectually prevent the increase of the 
Romish delusion among us, whatever form 
that delusion may assume. 

1. The term Justification, whether used 
in a legal or evangelical sense, always pre- 
supposes guik. One whose innocense has 
never been called into question needs no 
justification. However, not only is our 
innocence questioned, but we are charged 
with guilt. The Holy Spirit has drawn up 
a fearful indictment against us, and the 
proof to establish His declaration of guilt 
is found upon every hand, even in our own 
consciousness. While there may be a differ- 
ence in the degree of our guilt, nevertheless 
all have sinned and come short of the glory 



Justification, 39 

of God. Legal justification therefore for 
us is altogether out of the question, as the 
law declares the soul that sinneth shall die. 

Hence the Scriptures teach that our sins 
must be remitted, must be pardoned, be 
forgiven, be covered over, be carried away, 
will not be imputed against us, that is no 
longer charged to our account, yea even the 
hand writing which was against us shall be 
blotted out, washed away, our sins shall be 
taken away even as far as the East is from 
the West, and after this great personal act 
of God is done in our behalf, we are justi- 
fied before God by grace through faith. 
The sinner however is pardoned not alone 
on the ground of mercy, may I write it, not 
alone on the ground of mercy, but on the 
ground of eternal justice because Christ 
died for our sins and rose again for our 
justification ! 

When a criminal applies to a government 
for a pardon, he usually pleads one or all 
of three things. He may set forth his good 



40 The Great Salvation. 

citizenship previous to the commission of 
his crime, or he may plead some mitigating 
circumstances connected with the commis- 
sion of the crime, or he may plead his refor- 
mation. But surely we could plead neither 
of these nor any other. We must confess 
our guilt, and plead for pardon upon the 
ground that our Substitute Jesus Christ 
the Righteous died in our stead and paid 
the penalty of the law and now we claim 
pardon in His Name, and for His sake, 
whose blood speaketh better things that that 
of Abel's. 

" Just as thou art — without one trace 
Of love, or joy, or inward grace, 
Or meetness for the heavenly place, 
guilty sinner, come, O come! 

' ( Thy sins I bore on Calvary 's tree ; 
The stripes, thy due, were laid on me, 
That peace and pardon might be free, 
O wretched sinner, come, O come! 

1 'Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bid 'st me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 



Justification. 41 

"Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, 
Because Thy promise I believe— 
O Lamb of God, I come, I come." 

2. If the doctrine set forth above is cor- 
rect then justification must be distinguished 
from that gracious provision of God by 
which for the sake of Jesus Christ all man- 
kind is so far delivered from the conse- 
quences of Adam 's transgression as to place 
them in a salvable state. Justification is 
a subject of personal concern, personal seek- 
ing, personal prayer, personal experience, 
and obtained by personal faith. 

Such an one is free from the curse of the 
law there being no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus. The law of the 
Spirit of life hath made them free from 
the law of sin and death. Being justified 
by faith they have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are no 
longer laid to our charge, but we are as free 
from them for Jesus sake as though we had 



42 The Great Salvation. 

never sinned at all. "They are all taken 
away." "Who shall lay anything to the 
charge of God's elect? It is God that justi- 
fieth. Who is He that condemneth? It is 
Christ that died, yea rather who is risen 
again, who is even at the right hand of 
God, who also maketh interecession for us. ' ' 
Our sins though once as scarlet are become 
white as snow; though red like crimson, 
they are as wool. Our sins have been 
" blotted out," "washed away." Dr. 
Clarke says, when the Bible was written 
there was neither ink nor paper as we have 
it now. The ink then did not contain the 
same chemical substances ours does now, 
and could be easily washed from the parch- 
ment. Hence when a creditor discharged 
his indebtedness the account was "washed 
away," "blotted out" with water and 
sponge. Now by faith in Jesus Christ, who 
is the propriation for our sins, the atoning 
blood washes into snowy whiteness the 
"hand-writing" which was against us, so it 



Justification. 43 

can be remembered against us no more for- 
ever. 

Nor are our sins only taken away, but 
our relations to God are completely 
changed. Instead of being strangers 
and foreigners and at enmity with God 
we now belong to His household and have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and have access unto Him through 
the grace wherein we stand. 

In view of these glorious truths and such 
a happy experience, is it not preposterous, 
yea is it not sacrilegious, if not blasphemy, 
that men claim that by their official acts, 
and by the words of their mouths, such a 
remarkable change over which the angels 
in heaven rejoice, may be accomplished! 
That by virtue of a declaration made by a 
sinful man a condemned sinner may be 
set free from the condemnation of the 
law of God! 

Were this delusion confined to the frau- 
dulent claims of the Roman Hierarchy one 



44 The Great Salvation. 

could more easily endure it, but that Pro- 
testant ministers declare absolution by vir- 
tue of their office over an entire audience 
is a crying shame. Surely such persons 
neither understand the Scriptures nor the 
power of God. 



The Washing of Regeneration. 45 

Chapter VI. 

THE WASHING OF REGENERATION. 

The term regeneration occurs only twice 
in the New Testament. In one instance the 
term is applied to the events of the judg- 
ment day. In the other instance, Titus 3: 
5, it is used to express the renovation of 
the heart by the Holy Spirit. The term, 
therefore, is more theological than biblical. 
The Scriptures use a variety of terms to 
designate the great change so imperatively 
necessary for man's salvation in conse- 
quence of our sinful condition. "Born of 
God/' "born of the Spirit," "born from 
above," "quickened," "raised up," "pas- 
sed from death unto life," "old things 
have passed away, and all things have be- 
come new," and quite a number of other 
terms are employed to denote the reality 



46 The Great Salvation. 

and depth of the wonderful change exper- 
ienced by the Christian believer. 

The language of the Scriptures proves 
beyond controversy that regeneration 
means more than reformation, or an exter- 
nal conformity to the rules of good conduct 
and gentlemanly behaviour. Nicodemus 
seems to have been quite blameless in his 
demeanor, and yet he must be born again 
in order to enter the kingdom. The rich 
young man who so earnestly inquired the 
way of salvation seems to have been quite 
a model young man in his general conduct, 
and yet he lacked one thing. 

Here we meet the one great point so 
frequently overlooked by earthly reform- 
ers. They busy themselves with outward 
circumstances, not with inner character. 
They hope to cure a dropsied limb by the 
application of external bandage and com- 
press. For a disease of the heart they 
prescribe a mere skin-deep lotion of out- 
ward decency. They would change a pois- 



The Washing of Be generation. 47 

onous tree by whitewashing its trunk, and 
adding compost to the soil, and building a 
neat fence around it. The Divine plan is 
to lay the axe to the root of the tree, and 
plant a new one. Make the tree good and 
the fruit will be good is the philosophy of 
the New Testament. 

Regeneration is also to be distinguished 
from justification. Although the two can- 
not be separated, because God has joined 
them together, yet they are ^uite distinct 
in their nature. Justification changes our 
relation to God; regeneration is a change 
in our personal state, our affections, and 
character. Justification is the removal of 
our guilt ; regeneration is the subjugation of 
our moral depravity through the work of 
the Holy Spirit, and implants the principle 
of obedience within us, yea restores the 
image of God to the soul. 

In accordance with these declarations 
Regeneration is a New Birth. 



48 The Great Salvation. 

A child previous to its birth has eyes, 
but sees not, has ears, but hears not. Only 
after it is born does it really begin to live, 
at least lives in a manner wholly different 
from what it did before. Thus the natural 
man, in a spiritual sense, has ears but hears 
not; has eyes, but sees not. His other 
spiritual senses are in the same condition, 
as the Scriptures declare such an one is 
"dead in tresspasses and sins." He has no 
true knowledge of God, has no intercourse 
with God, nor is he acquainted with God. 
Through regeneration all this has been 
changed. The soul has entered upon a new 
state of existence, has been introduced into 
a new order of things. The eyes of the 
understanding have been opened, light hav- 
ing shone out of darkness hath shined upon 
the soul and it sees the light of the glory 
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The 
things of the Spirit now become the chief 
objects of desire and pursuit, and its 
energies are now directed Godward. Such 



The Washing of Begeneration. 49 

an one is now alive unto God, having been 
quickened by His Spirit, and in reality has 
now only commenced to live. 

Secondly in Regeneration God gives the 
regenerated a New Heart. 

By this is not meant that a change in the 
substance of the soul has been made, but 
that a change in its moral qualities and 
dispositions has taken place. There is no 
creation of new faculties, but an infusion 
of new qualities. There is light instead of 
darkness. Love to God instead of enmity, 
as the love of God is shed abroad in their 
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given 
unto them. Every faculty of the soul par- 
takes of the gracious work of the Divine 
Spirit, and these faculties are henceforth 
appropriated to holy uses, becoming a prin- 
ciple of obedience which constrains the in- 
dividual to walk in the ways of God's com- 
mandments. 

"A new heart also will I give you, and 
a new spirit will I put within you, and I 



50 The Great Salvation. 

will take away the stony heart of your 
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 
And I will put my Spirit within you and 
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye 
shall keep my judgments and do them." 
This "new heart" and "new spirit" cer- 
tainly imply that the regenerate have been 
converted from darkness unto light. Men 
in their natural condition are alienated 
from God through the ignorance that is in 
them, because of the blindness of their 
hearts, but the regenerated man hath seen 
the marvelous light of the glory of God 
and no longer gropes his way in darkness, 
hut walks in the light of God, the beau- 
tiful light of God. This light has been 
communicated to the soul by the Holy 
Spirit. It has disclosed man's own sin- 
fulness, it has disclosed the vanity, the 
folly, the condemnation, and the exceeding 
sinfulness of sin, has disclosed the efficacy 
of the atoning Sacrifice through the death 
of Christ, as well as His willingness and 



The Washing of Regeneration. 51 

ability to save. By faith he has now re- 
ceived the Light into his very being, and 
has been transformed out of the kingdom 
of darkness into the kingdom of light. 

In this "new heart' ' and "new spirit' ' 
the affections and passions have been 
changed. These formerly were wholly con- 
trolled by sin, wholly under its power; so 
that although his judgment frequently con- 
demned his actions, and conscience pro- 
tested against his evil course; still he was 
powerless to overcome his proneness to sin, 
and hence was being led captive at the will 
of Satan. Now these things have been 
reversed, because he has become a new crea- 
ture in Christ Jesus, old things having 
passed away and all things have become 
new. What he once loved he now hates, 
What he hated he now loves. Having 
passed from death unto life he loves the 
brethren, and fears God as an obedient 
child fears a loving parent— fears to offend 
and disobey on account of that holy filial 



52 The Great Salvation. 

reverence which has been implanted within 
him. His hopes also have undergone a 
great change for he has been begotten again 
unto a lively hope for an incorruptible in- 
heritance, having become an heir of God 
and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, hence 
his hopes are no longer bounded by the nar- 
row horizon of this earthly sphere but as 
he walks by faith he seeks a city whose 
builder and foundation is God. 

As it is a matter of such vast importance 
to have clear views of the doctrine of re- 
generation, especially in these days of sup- 
erficiality in doctrine and practice and ex- 
perience, I will add several definitions of 
men who so far as Methodism is concerned 
speak with authority. Although we as a 
Church are not Methodists in name, we 
nevertheless belong to the great Methodist 
family. Fletcher says: "In general we 
may say regeneration is that great change 
by which a man passes from a state of na- 



The Washing of Regeneration. 53 

ture to a state of grace. He was an animal 
man; in being born again he becomes a 
spiritual man. His natural birth has made 
him like to fallen Adam, to the Old Man, 
against whom God has pronounced the 
sentence of death, seeing it is the wages of 
sin. But his spiritual birth makes him 
like to Jesus Christ, to the New Man, which 
is according to God created in righteous- 
ness and true holiness." Watson says: 
"Regeneration is that mighty change in 
man wrought by the Holy Spirit, by which 
the dominion which sin had over him in 
his natural state is broken and abolished; 
so that, with full choice of will and the 
-energy of right affections, he serves God 
freely, and runs in the ways of His com- 
mandments. Deliverance from the bon- 
dage of sin, and the power and the will 
to do all things, which are pleasing to 
God, both as to inward habits and outward 



54 The Great Salvation. 

acts, are therefore the distinctive* charac- 
ters of this state." 

These views are in accord with the doc- 
trine of the Scriptures. These teach that 
" Whoso ver is born of God doth not com- 
mit sin." "Sin shall not have dominion 
over you, for ye are not under the law, but 
under grace." "But now being made free 
from sin and become the servants of God, 
ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the 
end everlasting life." This state of grace 
is one of great honor and glory and power 
and dignity ; for such regenerated souls are 
declared to be the sons of God. Not only 
have they become new creatures, but they 
have been also washed from the filth of 
sin, and the spirit of holiness implanted 
within them. "And such were some of 
you, but ye are washed, but ye are sancti- 
fied, but ye are justified in the name of the 
Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. ' ' 
' ' Moreover whom He did predestinate, them 



The Washing of Regeneration. 55 

He also called, and whom He called them 
He also justified, and whom He justified 
He also glorified." Hence it is always 
wrong and misleading to speak of Chris- 
tians as being "merely justified/' and 
speak in general of conversion as if it was 
a matter of small importance as compared 
with the experience of entire sanctification. 
It is the foundation, the superstructure of 
the Christian's experience. If this is laid 
indifferently the entire building will be 
damaged and very apt to fall to pieces. 

The regenerate soul overcomes the 
world, it will have no fellowship with un- 
righteousness, and is separate from sinners. 
Men deceive themselves when they flatter 
themselves to be regenerate and yet have 
fellowship with the works of darkness. A 
soul that is born of God hates iniquity and 
departs from it. He will not stand in the 
way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the 
scornful. The congregation and the so- 



56 The Great Salvation. 

ciety of the wordling and the wicked are 
an abomination to one who has become 
heavenly minded, and set his affections on 
things above. His delight is in the way 
of the Lord, and his soul crieth out, The 
Lord is my portion. 



The Witness of the Spirit. 57 

Chapter VII. 
THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

That Paul in Romans 8: 16, writing 
about the witness of the Spirit has re- 
ference to the direct testimony of the Spirit 
to our spirits seems to admit of no reason- 
able doubt. Throughout his entire argu- 
ment in this grand chapter Paul mainly 
treats of the Holy Spirit; so that it would 
be unnatural and forced to give his lan- 
guage any other construction. Luther's 
translation is very direct. Speaking of the 
filial Spirit in the preceding verse which 
believers have received by which he can 
say "Abba Father/ ' Luther translates: 
"This same Spirit gives testimony to our 
spirit that we are the children of God." 

Wesley says: "But here I cannot but 
desire all those who are for swallowing up 
the testimony of the Spirit of God, in the 



58 The Great Salvation. 

rational testimnoy of our own spirit, to 
observe, that in this text the apostle is so 
far from speaking of the testimony of our 
spirit only, that it may be questioned 
whether he speaks of it at all,-— whether 
he does not speak only of the testimony of 
God's Spirit ?" It is not denied by any 
means that we also have the testimony of 
our own spirits, the testimony of our own 
consciousness, because we find the fruit of 
the Spirit in our hearts and lives;— a con- 
sciousness that we are conformed to the 
image of His Son and that we walk in His 
statutes. This however does not conflict 
with the consoling truth that preceding 
this collateral evidence we may have, yea, 
as children of God do have, the direct testi- 
mony of the blessed Spirit of God. 

Christ came into the world that men 
might know and honor the Father. The 
Holy Spirit comes into the world that men 
may know the Son, and the Father in the 
Son. The work of Christ may be summed 



The Witness of the Spirit. 59 

up in manifesting the Father, and the 
work of the Spirit may be summed up in 
testifying of Christ. Hence it is the Spir- 
it's office and work to testify— to bear wit- 
ness. "The Spirit of truth which pro- 
ceedeth from the Father, he shall testify 
of me." "The testimony of Jesus is the 
Spirit of prophecy." The prophets gave 
witness to Jesus through the Holy Ghost, 
and the Spirit gave testimony to Him and 
for Him during His ministry on earth. 
It was through the "eternal Spirit" that 
He offered Himself for sin, and He was 
"quickened by the Spirit/' and after His 
resurrection gave commandments to the 
Apostles ' ' through the Holy Ghost. ' ' The 
Apostles bore testimony to Christ alone 
through the Holy Spirit and by the inspi- 
ration of that same Spirit have left us 
their written testimony in the New Testa- 
ment. The things which they wrote being 
the "commandments of the Lord," because 
God had given them His Holy Spirit. So 



60 The Great Salvation, 

also in the long succession of faithful men 
who have been "able to teach others also" 
the Holy Spirit has borne testimony to 
Christ. For every true minister has been 
called and is qualified by the Holy Ghost. 
Thus also in the Church does the Holy 
Ghost bear testimony to Christ — bears 
testimony in many ways. He testifies to 
men's need of Christ by bringing sin to 
remembrance, He reveals Christ as a Sav- 
iour, and enables the penitent to rest upon 
Him for salvation. 

And if the Holy Ghost thus testifies to 
Christ and to the work of Christ, is it not 
reasonable also to suppose that He will 
bear testimony to the great revolution 
wrought within us in consequence of the 
efficacy of His great atonement, through 
the direct agency of the Holy Ghost? For 
in Regeneration the insurrectionary forces 
in the souls of men have been put down, 
and the thorn-crowned King has established 
His empire in the human heart. The per- 



The Witness of the Spirit. 61 

son having this experience is adopted into 
the family of God. This being one of the 
great purposes of the scheme of human 
redemption to restore man to the dignity 
and blessedness which he had forfeited. 
And no scheme of recovery could be con- 
sidered complete or even worthy of God 
which failed to restore to fallen man the 
assurance, yea the certainty, that God was 
again well pleased with him. Without 
such knowledge the Christian life would 
lack its supremest and most indispensable 
joy and satisfaction. Only the Holy Spirit 
can give this testimony, as He only knows 
the mind of God, and hence He alone can 
testify whether the mind of God has passed 
upon my pardon and restoration to Divine 
favor. And such authentication or attesta- 
tion is no special function exercised by the 
Holy Ghost, but is in perfect harmony 
with the general functions of the Spirit 
exercised in the scheme of human Redemp- 
tion, as the Agent and Administrator of 



62 The Great Salvation. 

the purposes and operations of the Triune 
God. 

The peculiar relation of the child of God 
to the Holy Spirit gives additional weight 
to the argument involved in this discussion. 
The life of the believer is a spiritual life 
from beginning to end. Through the 
Spirit he has been convinced of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment. He has 
been born of the Spirit. He is led by the 
Spirit. He walks after the Spirit. The 
Holy Spirit is his Comforter. The Holy 
Spirit helpeth his infirmities, and the Spirit 
itself maketh intercession for him. The 
Holy Ghost has shed abroad the love of 
God into his heart. Yea, the Holy Ghost, 
not only His power or influence, but the 
Holy Ghost personally dwelleth in him. 
"Know ye not that your body is the tem- 
ple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?" 
Hence he is warned not to grieve the Holy 
Spirit, not to quench the Spirit, whereby 
he has been sealed. Moreover, is not also 



The Witness of the Spirit. 63 

the Holy Spirit, who the Saviour says, 
" shall be in you," the believer's teacher 
and guide, as well as the source of his 
strength? Consequently He is the believ- 
er's source of light, first through the reve- 
lation of the Word, and then by the fact 
that "He takes the things of God," and 
shows them unto us. Is it then reasonable 
to suppose He would leave us in ignorance 
on one of the most important questions of 
Christian experience? 

However, the teaching of the Scriptures 
on the doctrine of the "Witness of the 
Spirit" is so forcible, and so direct that 
argument from analysis is hardly neces- 
sary. The truth in this respect lies on the 
surface, nor need we depend upon one or 
two texts, for it seems to be interwoven 
into the very warp of the Scriptures 
throughout— from Genesis to Revelation. 
Wesley says: "This important truth is 
revealed not only once, not obscurely, nor 
incidentally, but frequently, and that in 



64 The Great Salvation. 

express terms.' ' It will not be possible 
within the limits to which this volume 
must be confined to cite all the evidence 
bearing upon this truth, so that we must 
be content to quote only a limited number 
of the precious texts of the Word. 

We would refer first to several passages 
which speak of the "sealing" of believers 
by the Spirit of God. "Grieve not the 
Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed 
unto the day of redemption/' "In whom 
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed 
with that Holy Spirit of promise, which 
is the earnest of our inheritance, until the 
redemption of the purchased possession, 
unto the praise of his glory," "Who hath 
also sealed us and given us the earnest 
of the Spirit in our hearts." This "seal- 
ing" is the act of another— of the Spirit, 
and gives us the assurance of our right to 
the ' purchased possession," the inheritance 
of the saints, and this "earnest" has been 
put into our hearts, the seat of the affec- 



The Witness of the Spirit. 65 

tions, the emotions, hence must mean a 
personal consciousness that we have become 
the children of God, and hence heirs of His 
glory. 

I shall quote a few more texts in order 
to show that this gracious and blessed 
knowledge of salvation is not the privilege 
simply of a chosen or select few, but is 
the common privilege of all true believers. 
For instance: "Now we have received not 
the Spirit which is of the world, but the 
Spirit which is of God, that we might 
know the things that are freely given to 
us of God. ' ' What no eye hath s^en, nor 
ear heard, what has not entered into the 
conceptions of men, what can not be known 
by the senses, nor discovered by the intel- 
lect, nor reasoned out by the mind, God 
hath revealed to the believer by His Spirit, 
which Spirit he hath received. "Hereby 
we know that He abideth in us, by the 
Spirit which He hath given us," "Hereby 
know we that we dwell in Him, and He in 



66 The Great Salvation. 

us, because He hath given us of His 
Spirit/' "He that believeth on the Son of 
God hath the witness in himself/ ' "These 
things have I written unto you, that ye 
may know that ye have eternal life," "Ye 
have not received the spirit of bondage 
again to fear, but ye have received the 
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
Father/' "The Spirit itself beareth wit- 
ness to our spirit that we are the children 
of God."— The Father cannot be seen by 
mortal eye, and yet there seems to be a 
craving in human nature to see the Father. 
1 ' Show us the Father, ' ' cried the disciples, 
' ' and it sufficeth us. f ' This cry represents 
the aspirations of our race. There can be 
no rest or peace to the human soul without 
a revelation of God to the soul as a loving 
Father who for Christ's sake has par- 
doned sin and again accepted us as His. 
This gracious act of God can only be known 
by God's supernatural testimony. Thank 
God, that this matter of so much impor- 



The Witness of the Spirit, 67 

tance to every believer has not been left to 
feeling, nor conjecture, nor assumption, 
nor reasoning, but that God attests it by 
His own Spirit in our hearts. We need not 
walk in darkness, but may have the light 
of life. Need not depend upon science or 
philosophy or the quibbles of critics, or the 
polemics of theologians, but we receive the 
adoption of sons, and the testimony of it 
direct from God. Now we may approach 
Him with great boldness, for through His 
Spirit dwelling in our hearts "we cry, 
Abba, Father;" something which no man 
who has not redemption in the blood of 
the cross has any right to do. 

Reader, do you have this testimony? 



The Great Salvation. 



Chapter VIII. 

AKE BELIEVERS WHOLLY SANCTI- 
FIED IN CONVERSION? 

The idea that believers are saved not 
only from the guilt and power of sin at 
the time of their conversion, but also from 
all the pollution of sin, was formerly 
strenuously contended for among us. For 
many years this doctrine was preached to 
our people from the pulpit of theEvangel- 
ical Messenger, and by many of our min- 
isters, especially in Pennsylvania. It 
would be idle to attempt to gainsay what 
is a matter of history. And when finally 
the Messenger editor was called to account 
a strong element rushed to his aid. The 
largest conference in the Church almost 
unanimously declared in his favor, and 
other strong conferences were barely saved 
from taking the same position. While the 



Conversions and Entire Sanctification. 69 

manner in which the accused editor had 
been dealt with was ostensibly made the 
issue between the conferences and the gen- 
eral Church authorities, the real reason was 
because he represented the form of doc- 
trine for which this element contended. 
The speeches made at the time were all in 
defence of the doctrinal position taken by 
the editor, The carefully prepared manu- 
script of one of the principal speeches is 
still in existence. Probably its author 
never spent so much time in the prepara- 
tion of any other conference speech as he 
did on the one in question. Had not this 
departure from the doctrine of our Church 
as expressed in her book of Discipline 
existed in the East, together with the 
prejudices the issue had awakened, the 
political plotters of the West would never 
have been able to carry our people out of 
the Evangelical Association. 

Is it reasonable to expect that the broad- 
cast sowing of this erroneous doctrine by 



70 The Great Salvation. 

an official paper and by many of the ablest 
and most popular ministers of the Church 
would not bear its legitimate fruit? Can 
it be expected otherwise than that the 
fruit still remains to a greater or less de- 
gree? Hence there is need for the exer- 
cise of charity towards those who have 
been erroneously taught. 

That sanctification commences in regen- 
eration is so plainly taught in the Scrip- 
tures that he who runs may read. A few 
passages of Scripture on this point ought 
to be sufficient. ' ' Unto the Church of God, 
which is at Corinth, to them that are sanc- 
tified in Christ Jesus;" "Ye are washed, 
ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
of our God." One of the principal pas- 
sages we quote to prove the possibility of 
entire sanctification in this life, namely: 
"The very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly," proves beyond all contradiction 
that these believers at Thessalonica had 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification. 71 

been sanctified in part— that the work in 
them had commenced, but was to be per- 
fected, so that they might be kept blame- 
less unto the coming of our Lord. St. 
Paul declares, speaking to the Corinthian 
Church: "If any man defile the temple of 
God, him shall God destroy, for the temple 
of God is holy, which temple ye are." 
To the Colossians he says : ' ' Put on, there- 
fore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, 
bowels of mercies." To the Hebrews he 
says: "Wherefore, holy brethren, partak- 
ers of the heavenly calling." In view of 
these passages and numerous others which 
might be cited, our Church, at the General 
Conference of 1867, in Pittsburg, Pa., de- 
clared that entire sanctification had its 
commencement (Anfangsgrund) in regen- 
eration. To teach differently, whether di- 
rectly or indirectly, whether by inference 
or otherwise, is doing the cause of Christ 
great injury. Superficial teaching and 
superficial practices in reference to con- 



72 The Great Salvation, 

version are always hurtful and dangerous. 
That however upon the other hand we 
are not wholly sanctified in conversion is 
equally plainly taught in the Word of 
God. Not only that growth and develop- 
ment are needed; but that a further and 
deeper and more thorough cleansing is 
needed. This is the real point at issue. 
It is not denied that the believer should 
go on to perfection, that he should go on 
from glory to glory, unto a stature of full 
manhood in Christ. The contention is that 
after conversion the work is all of a posi- 
tive character. Only a filling up. Only a 
development of that which exists. No 
further emptying of sin is needed. The 
arguments used are based principally upon 
metaphysical grounds. Let it be remem- 
bered that we must take God's Word as 
it is given to us by the holy men who wrote 
as the Holy Ghost gave them utterance, 
without attempting by our reasoning to set 
aside the Word of the Almighty. And 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification. 73 

upon this point the Word is not only plain, 
but full and emphatic. Therefore to the 
law and the testimony. 

We read 1 Cor. 3: 1-3: "And I, breth- 
ren, could not speak unto you as unto spiri- 
tual but as unto carnal, even as unto babes 
in Christ * * * for ye are yet carnal.' ' 
"But these were backslide rs," is the ob- 
jection I hear. Notice, however, that Paul 
addresses them as ' ' brethren, ' ' and says, 
"they are babes in Christ," consequently 
with all their infirmaties and carnality, 
they were "in Christ," and were "babes," 
hence must have been born again. The 
conclusion cannot be evaded, that they 
were converted, but not yet wholly sancti- 
fied. Again we read 2 Cor. 7:1:" Having 
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, 
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God." The persons Paul 
thus exhorts he had addressed as those who 
had become "new creatures," with whom 



74 The Great Salvation. 

"old things are passed away," and "as 
workers together with him/' consequently 
they were not merely Christians, but even 
working Christians, who needed cleansing, 
inwardly and outwardly, and have holiness 
perfected — made complete. 

Again we read Ephesians 4: 22: "That 
ye put off concerning the former conver- 
sation, the old man, which is corrupt ac- 
cording to the deceitful lusts, * * * and 
that ye put on the new man, which after 
God, is created in righteousness and true 
holiness." The persons whom he thus 
exhorts he had addressed as "the faithful 
in Christ Jesus." Again we read 1 John 
3:3: "And every man that hath this hope 
in him purifieth himself even as He is 
pure." Those who have become the "sons 
of God" and who desire and expect to be 
like Him w^en He shall appear, and see 
Him as He is, will not cease nor rest until 
they possess the consciousness of purity 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification. 75 

even as Christ is pure. These proofs ought 
to be sufficient. The evidence of the Scrip- 
tures is that although we have the witness 
that we are the Lord's, impurity may still 
attach to us, and that this is ordinarily the 
moral condition of " babes in Christ,'' 
whom our Discipline terms "weak Chris- 
tians," but nevertheless Christians. The 
pity is that so many who ought long since 
to have been fathers are still "babes in 
Christ," and are "carnal;" while they 
long since should have been strong and 
have the "victory over any temptation the 
moment it may present itself," they still 
yield to temptation, and have not purified 
their souk. 

Would it not also be legitimate in this 
discussion to refer to the general exper- 
ience of God's people? I was going to write 
"universal" instead of general, but checked 
my pen. There may be an exception to 
this general rule. There may be those who 
can say, "From the very beginning when 



76 The Great Salvation. 

first I found Christ I was fully conscious 
of having been fully cleansed from all the 
filthiness of sin, and have realized no evil 
desires nor affections arising within me, 
hut only a constant and increasing desire 
to do and to suffer the Lord 's will. ' ' Prob- 
ably there may be such, I will not call into 
question their experience and confession. 
But does not the very rare experience and 
confession prove the rule which we have 
found the Holy Spirit teacheth? And 
should not those few favored ones be the 
very last to find fault or criticize those 
among their brethren, the great majority 
even, who were not so fortunate as they, 
but who also desire to see this great salva- 
tion ? They of all others should speak words 
of encouragement, and should be the very 
last to discourage the doctrine of entire 
cleansing by faith in Jesus Christ long be- 
fore we die. 

Surely if in the very beginning of Chris- 
tian experience, when men first believed in 



Conversion and Entire Sanctification. 77 

Christ, it was possible to comprehend the 
glorious truths connected with our salva- 
tion so fully as to accept Christ in all the 
fulness of His promises, of His willingness 
and ability to save to the uttermost, to 
cleanse each spot, and to purify the con- 
science and the affections and the will from 
every stain and all desire for evil ; then cer- 
tainly those who were not sufficiently en- 
lightened and not able thus to receive 
Christ, when they were born into the fam- 
ily, but have for days and months and 
years walked in the light, and becoming 
conscious of their real spiritual condition, 
and are led to see the glorious fulness in 
their almighty Saviour, whose blood now 
cleanseth from all sin, and lay hold upon 
Him by faith, may also realize what some 
profess they experienced in the very morn- 
ing of their Christian life! 



78 The Great Salvation. 

Chapter IX. 
PROGRESS IN THE DIVINE LIFE. 

"Experience has moreover taught that, 
ordinarily, this state of Christian perfec- 
tion is attained gradually, by an upright 
course of life in following the Lamb ; how- 
ever, during this gradation, this work is 
perfected in the soul, sooner or later, by a 
sudden and powerful influence of grace 
and outpouring of the Divine Spirit. Those 
who have actually experienced it describe 
this effusion of the Divine life as being 
similar to the grace of justification, yet far 
exceeding the same. This grace is called 
Sanctification."— Discipline of the Evan- 
gelical Association. 

This quotation from the authorized doc- 
trinal teaching of our beloved Church 
plainly teaches that at some period, in the 
experience of the believer, "ordinarily/' 



Progress in the Divine Life. 79 

"sooner or later/' which depends upon 
how earnestly believers seek it, the time 
will come when he will experience "a total 
deliverance from all sin." 

However, this quotation from our Disci- 
pline on "the Doctrine of Christian Per- 
fection, ' ' as well as the tenor of the entire 
chapter, also clearly teaches that there is 
a gradual approach towards this great and 
glorious consummation of "total deliver- 
ance. ' ' 

Webster defines Gradation as follows: 
"A series of ascending steps or degrees, or 
a proceeding step by step; hence progress 
from one degree or state to another; a re- 
gular advance from step to step. We ob- 
serve a gradation in the progress of society 
from a rude to a civilized life. Men may 
arrive by several gradations to the most 
horrid impiety.' ' 

Confounding "growth in grace" with 
the "gradation" taught in our Discipline 
has led to very much misunderstanding of 



80 The Great Salvation. 

the subject, and has led many good men 
astray from the truth. We can not out- 
grow sin. Nor does the development of 
the Christian graces, such as faith, love, 
etc., cleanse the heart from the stains of 
sin. That is the office and work of the 
Holy Ghost through the efficacy of the 
atonement, or the saving power of the 
blood of our glorious Redeemer. 

But there is a gradation leading on and 
towards the completion of our cleansing — 
our entire Sancitfication. ' ' Ordinarily ' ' 
some lapse of time necessarily exists until 
the great object and purpose of the Holy 
Ghost is accomplished in us. Of course we 
must always be careful not to limit nor 
circumscribe the power of God and the 
will of man. When the will of God and 
the will of the human soul are made one 
by a perfect submission and unswerving 
ing faith, sin cannot remain in such an 
atmosphere. It will be utterly destroyed 
and cast out. Hence there may be excep- 



Progress in the Divine Life. 81 

tional cases where the rays of light burst 
very suddenly upon the new-born soul, so 
that its true inwardness is seen by the 
light, and Christ is also discovered in the 
greatness of His mighty love and saving 
power, and the person in question comes 
quickly and suddenly into the experience 
of the grace of Sanctification. 

However, "ordinarily" time is required. 
The very term used in our Discipline, gra- 
dation, namely, "a series of ascending 
steps or degrees," implies this. Moreover, 
in a real, genuine, biblical conversion to 
God the joy of having found pardon and 
peace, and having been restored to the 
Divine favor, and the attestation of the 
Holy Ghost to this wonderful change, is 
so great that perhaps for days and weeks 
and months the new-born child of God has 
been singing: 

"Oh, how happy are they 
Who their Saviour obey, 
And have laid up their treasures above! 



82 The Great Salvation. 

Tongue cannot express 
The sweet comfort and peace 
Of a soul in its earliest love! 

Oh, the rapturous height 

Of that holy delight, 
Which I felt in the life-giving blood! 

Of my Saviour possessed, 

I was perfectly blest, 
As if filled with the fulness of God." 

In this frame of mind the new convert 
is hardly prepared to receive much teach- 
ing in reference to remaining depravity, 
and the necessity of a deeper and fuller 
consecration. He might answer us by 
singing. 

"On the wings of His love, 

I am carried above 
All sin, and temptation and pain; 

I cannot believe 

That I ever can grieve, 
That I ever shall suffer again." 

However, as time rolls on, as his experi- 
ence is put to the test of an actual conflict 
with principalities and powers, and the 
rulers of darkness and spiritual wicked- 



Progress in the Divine Life. 83 

ness, "the evil day" meets him, when 
clouds and darkness threaten to overwhelm 
him ; when the tempter in the subtleness of 
his character assails him, and he discovers, 
frequently to his astonishment and sur- 
prise, that his inward propensities, desires 
and affections seem ready to respond to 
the temptations from without, and he finds 
that in order to "overcome" he needs to 
cry mightily unto God for help, and that, 
in fact, at times his "feet had well-nigh 
slipped,"— it is then that he becomes ready 
to be led on. 

Moreover it is not only necessary in or- 
der to reach the haven of perfect rest and 
peace that the new-born soul becomes ac- 
quainted with himself, but he must needs 
learn to know Christ as He is revealed unto 
us in the Word. Hence it becomes neces- 
sary that he attend upon the means of 
grace. The study of God's Word and the 
hearing of God's Word, become absolutely 
necessary. One of the purposes of the 



84 The Great Salvation. 

ministry is "the perfecting of the saints." 
And probably one great reason why some 
never come to a clear knowledge of the 
great and central truth of Christianity, 
viz. that it is the will of God even our Sanc- 
tifieation, is a lack of clear teaching, or per- 
haps of no teaching at all on this experi- 
ence. In all probability the minister may 
make light of the longings of a soul for 
"total deliverance/' and say that only a 
set of crazy enthusiasts preach about such 
a work of grace, and the inquirer returns 
discouraged, believing that the conflict 
within his soul must necessarily continue 
until death ends the fight. 

But if the minister is in reality a man of 
God and is ready to point the soul to Him 
who gave His life for us, his ministry be- 
comes a benediction, and believers will be 
enabled to "walk in the light/' and the day 
and the hour cannot be far in the distance 
when this grace of Sanctification will be- 
come their personal possession. 



Pr ogress in the Divine Life. 85 

While it is certainly true that there is 
such a thing as progress towards the con- 
summation of our entire cleansing— a gra- 
dation—a going step by step towards the 
goal— going forward towards the promised 
inheritance; it is contrary to the entire 
tenor of the Scriptures, opposed to the plan 
of salvation, and to everything which is 
revealed to us concerning sin and concern- 
ing God, that Sanctification is a growth or 
a development. It is a work of Divine 
grace, consequently supernatural in its na- 
ture. It is due to the power of God. It is 
the gift of God. The Scriptures uniformly 
and constantly refer to God as its Author. 
"The very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly/ ' that the God of peace might sanc- 
tify and cleanse it * c That He might present 
it to Himself a glorious Church, not having 
spot of wrinkle, or any such thing, but that 
it should be holy and without blemish/ ' 

Sanctification is also ascribed to the 
Holy Ghost. We read "because God hath 



86 The Great Salvation. 

from the beginning chosen you to salvation, 
through sancitfication of the Spirit and be- 
lief of the truth. ' ' ' ' Elect according to the 
foreknowledge of God the Father, through 
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience 
and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. ' ' 

In the face of such evidence it is clear 
as noon-day that our Sanctification is a 
supernatural work of the blessed Holy 
Trinity wrought within us. Men cannot 
heal nor cleanse themselves. We are saved 
by grace through faith from the beginning 
to the end. Such is the plain, unequivocal 
doctrine of the Word. Hence the idea that 
we can outgrow sin and grow into ' l deliver- 
ance from all sin" is entirely at variance 
with the law and the testimony, and with 
the entire plan of salvation. It robs God 
of His glory and instead glorifies man. 
Thank God that the Fathers of our Church 
built so well and so biblical. 



Entire Sa notification. 87 



Chapter X. 

WHAT IS IMPLIED IN ENTIRE 
SANCTIFICATION? 

"Let us, then, seriously and explicitly 
admonish all believers, ardently to strive 
for Christian Perfection. And in order 
that we may teach uniformly on this point, 
let us decide, once and for all, whether we 
shall continue or give up this doctrin. We 
are unanimous to defend and maintain it; 
understanding by it nothing else than a 
total deliverance from all sin in the proper 
sense of the word."— Discipline. 

The General Conference in 1867 defined 
sin in the proper sense of the word to mean 
"evil affections and desires." Webster de- 
fines affection as follows: "Affection is a 
permanent bent of the mind formed by the 
presence of an object, or by some act of 
another person and existing without the 



88 The Great Salvation. 

presence of its object." Desire is defined 
as: "An emotion or excitement of the 
mind, directed to the attainment or posses- 
sion of an object from which pleasure, sen- 
sual, intellectual, or spiritual is expected. ' 9 

Hence "total deliverance from all sin 
in the proper sense of the word means that 
all desire for that which is forbidden in 
God's holy and just law has been destroyed 
and cast out by the rich effusion of God's 
love into the soul. Furthermore that all 
inclination to evil— every bent of the mind 
toward evil, has been straightened out, and 
man stands * c upright, " as he was made by 
his Creator in the beginning, having been 
restored to "righteousness and true holi- 
ness," which he had forfeited by trans- 
gression. 

At this juncture in our discussion we 
will again be compelled as far as our limits 
allow to enter upon an investigation of 
man's original constitution, as he came 
from the hand of God. He was created in 



Entire Sanctification. 89 

the "image" and " likeness " of God. This 
must refer to his moral condition. He was 
perfectly pure and holy, for "God made 
man up right/ ' It seems to me the four 
following positions hardly admit of con- 
troversy, and I am not by any means writ- 
ing for that purpose, only with a sincere 
desire to throw Scriptural light upon some 
things which seem to be misunderstood. 

1. Our first parents were imperfect in 
knowledge. The woman was deceived. 
This is the teaching of the Holy Ghost, 1 
Tim. 2: 14. "The woman being deceived 
was in the transgression. ' ' To be "de- 
ceived" is to be imposed upon; to believe 
the false to be true. Consequently if Eve 
was deceived, then although endowed with 
knowledge nevertheless she was not perfect 
in knowledge. If it had been perfect, de- 
ception would have been an impossibility, 
and yet she, as well as Adam, was declared 
to be good. Eve herself pleaded she had 
been "beguiled." 



90 The Great Salvation, 

2. They possessed physical appetites. 
Possessed them no doubt as means of en- 
joyment, as well as for other important 
purpoes. One of these physical appetites 
was directly and successfully appealed to 
by the tempter and led to their ruin. 

3. They were certainly endowed with 
' ' affections and desires, ' ' or else they would 
have been incapable either of loving God 
or loving each other. In fact they would 
have been incapable of enjoyment of any 
kind. The desire to know was appealed to 
by the tempter when he said to the woman : 
' ' In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes 
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, 
knowing good from evil." And in all. 
probability Adam was seduced to sin by 
the affection for his helpmeet. 

4. Then there was an element in their 
constitution which made it possible to be 
addressed by fallen malignant spirits. The 
serpent, I presume, is admitted universally, 



Entire Sanctification. 91 

was but an agent of that ' ' old serpent the 
devil." 

From these facts it is evident that their 
state was one of moral trial and conflict. 
They were created so as to be capable of the 
enjoyment of the highest happiness, cap- 
able of the exercise of the highest moral 
virtues, and to be fit subjects of moral gov- 
ernment. They were placed in a state of 
warfare, where they might expect attacks, 
and resistance became necessary. He was 
commanded "to dress and keep the gar- 
den.' ' The German translation is stronger 
— bewahren— to guard it, implying enemies 
and danger. Watson, speaking of the per- 
fection of Paradise, says: "It was a state 
which required watchfulness, and effort, 
and prayer ,and denial of the appetites and 
passions." Hence man, in his best estate, 
in the possession of "true holiness," was 
exposed to temptation, in the sense of 
solicitation to sin, and that these solicita- 
tions must have had some action upon his 



92 The Great Salvation. 

sensibilities, or else it could not be properly 
called temptation. Consequently such ac- 
tion upon our sensibilities is not sinful, and 
only becomes sinful when the will assents 
to indulgense. Those, therefore, who ele- 
vate their conceptions of sanctified human 
nature so high as to divest it of human ap- 
petites and human affections, and from the 
liability to err in judging and acting, do 
it without any warrant from Scripture, or 
support of sound reason. 

Upon the other hand, however, it must 
also be admitted that our first parents 
might have overcome had they been faith- 
ful. Any other position would be out of 
harmony with the Holiness, the Justice, and 
the Love of God who created them. They 
might have been obedient and kept their 
first estate, had they been faithful. 

These facts and conclusions lead us back 
again to our excellent Discipline. Our 
fathers in defining entire sanctification use 
this language: "He must stand upon his 



Entire Sanctification. 93 

guard so firmly and immovably that he can 
parry, and gain the victory over any temp- 
tation the moment it may present itself, 
without yielding more or less, either volun- 
tarily or negligently." The sanctified 
Christian then is not beyond the reach of 
temptation, but by Divine grace has been 
put into a state where he can have complete 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Certainly it must not be expected that the 
servant should be above the Master, and 
was He not "tempted like as we are?" 
The fact that susceptibility belonged to 
Adam in his primitive state when God pro- 
nounced him "good," and the Holy Ghost 
ascribes unto him "true holiness," is suffi- 
cient proof that our blessed Lord and 
Christ, and I speak with the deepest rever- 
ence, must have had these susceptibilities, 
or else He was not truly man, and did not 
truly take on Him human nature. If not, 
how could He have been tempted, for God 
cannot be tempted of evil. Nor was the 



94 The Great Salvation. 

great temptation of forty days the only 
one. His temptations did not end in the 
wilderness. In many occurences recorded 
in the Gospels, the physical appetites, the 
excitability of sense, may I not say the pas- 
sions of Jesus, can be seen in lively action. 
Especially may we appeal to the conflict 
of His soul in Gthesemane. That there was 
something in Him at that time which eli- 
cited the desire to be delivered from the 
fearful suffering which was at hand is evi- 
dent from His language. However, this 
sensuous part of humanity broke forth only 
for a moment,— the wish which was excited 
by it did not, for a moment even, determine 
the will of Jesus, and the victory was pro- 
claimed in the great words "not my will, 
but thine be done." 

If it where impossible for the tempter to 
touch any susceptibilities in our natures 
then indeed the warfare against sin would 
be ended, and the possibility of falling 
again would be at an end, while our Dis- 



Entire Sa?ictification. 95 

cipline teaches that many who once at- 
tained the state of entire sanctification 
"lost it again/' and the entire tenor of 
God's Word agrees with this teaching. 

The extravagant expressions of some 
"holiness people," as if they had attained 
unto a state of grace where it was impos- 
sible to be touched by any suggestion of 
the tempter, and that nothing could occur 
that would produce any feeling or excite- 
ment within has been a great hindrance to 
the cause and has called forth much un- 
favorable comment, and if not opposition, 
at least, indifference. 

And upon the other hand, how eagerly 
persons opposed to the doctrine of salvation 
from all sin in this life seize upon the im- 
perfections of human nature, upon defects 
in judgment, and ignorance of the motives 
of our fellow-men, which may lead to im- 
proper actions, and the errors which fre- 
quently originate in these sources, to cry 



96 The Great Salvation. 

out against the doctrine and attempt to 
bring odium upon it. 

I presume if some of these persons had 
been present and listened to the " sharp 
contention" between Paul and Barnabas 
about the best means to be adopted to ac- 
complish the best results they would have 
been just as ready to censure. They no 
doubt each were mistaken in their judg- 
ment, probably misjudged each other's mo- 
tives, and each believing if the other's 
plans would be adopted the cause of Christ 
would suffer, hence the " sharp conten- 
tion." Would it not have been sinful for 
these men to remain quiet when they be- 
lieved the cause would suffer if they did 
not defend what they considered the best 
means to promote the glory of Christ ? How 
often men are thus misjudged, especially 
men of strong convictions, and sensitive 
natures. 

To return, then, entire sanctification 
means a " total deliverance from all sin in 



Entire Sanctification. 97 

the proper sense of the word/' that is 
"from all evil affections and desires." 

This (1) does not include the extinction 
of our animal propensities. These are a 
part of our nature, inherent and essential 
to our constitution. The Bible nowhere 
condemns them as sinful. Their gratifica- 
tion in forbidden objects alone is sinful, 
It is not the province of religion to destroy 
them, but to regulate and control them, 
even to such a degree that we may even 
glorify God with these faculties. 

(2) It does not include perfection in 
knowledge. This would imply infallibility, 
Sin may be expelled but much ignorance 
may remain. 

(3) It does not imply freedom from 
temptation. It is not sinful to be tempted, 
only yielding is sinful. When temptation 
is allowed to "conceive" it bringeth forth 
sin. 

Dr. Clarke says: "This perfection is the 
restoration of man to the state of holiness 



98 The Great Salvation. 

from which he fell, restoring in him the 
image and likeness of God which he lost. 
A higher meaning than this it cannot have, 
a lower meaning it must not have. God 
made man in that degree of perfection 
which was pleasing to His infinite wisdom 
and goodness. Sin defaced this Divine 
image ; Jesus came to restore it. Sin must 
have no triumph; the Redeemer of man- 
kind must have His glory." Indeed a less 
salvation than this would dishonor Christ 
and the Holy Ghost. It would be unworthy 
of the appellation of Christian. 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 



Chapter XI. 

IS ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION AT- 
TAINABLE IN THIS LIFE? 

The believer is not called unto unclean- 
ness but unto holiness. His fruit is unto 
holiness. His members must not be yielded 
to iniquity, but to righteousness unto holi- 
ness. He is exhorted to perfect holiness in 
the fear of the Lord, yea he is commanded 
(to be holy as his God is holy. He is to 
follow peace with all men, and holiness 
without which no man shall see God. 

Hence no earnest Christian is or can be 
indifferent to this great central Truth of 
Divine Revelation. It cannot be unimpor- 
tant to ascertain the nature and extent of 
our privilege in reference to our attain- 
ments in holiness. 

The word most frequently used in the 
Scriptures to set forth holiness is "Sancti- 



100 The Great Salvation. 

fication." The Discipline of our beloved 
Church agrees with the Scriptures by using 
the same term. It speaks of i l Entire Sane- 
tification" and of the " grace of Sanetifi- 
cation." 

One of the meanings of the word Saneti- 
fication is to separate, to set apart, to se- 
parate from common uses, and devote to 
a holy and religious use. For instance it is 
said "God blessed the seventh day, and 
sanctified it" by setting that day apart as 
a day of rest and religious worship. Thus 
also the vessels and utensils used in the 
rites of worship in the tabernacle and tem- 
ple were said to be sanctified because they 
were set apart for the service of God. So 
the Jewish nation was called holy, because 
they were commanded to be separate from 
other nations as the peculiar people of God. 

So believers are called "holy" and 
"sanctified" because of their glorious ex- 
perience, and because 'they are separated 
from the world and set apart from it, and 



Sa notification Attainable in this Life. 101 

actually devoted to the service and glory of 
God. He is separated from the practice 
of sin. He has put off the old man, which 
is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts. 
He has no fellowship with the unfruitful 
works of darkness, and his fellowship is 
with the people of God. 

Believers are also called holy because 
they have been made partakers of the Di- 
vine nature and transformed into a new 
life. He has also received the blood of 
sprinkling and hence has been washed from 
the filth of sin. The prodigal when he re- 
turned, before the new robe was put upon 
him, and he was permitted to sit at the fath- 
ers table, a thorough cleansing from the filth 
and odor he had contracted with his former 
associates was necessary. So the sinner 
would be unfit for the society of the saints 
—the royal household of God— until he 
has been washed, and sanctified, and justi- 
fied in the name of the Lord Jesus and by 
the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. 6 : 11. 



102 The Great Salvation. 

The believer is no longer a stranger and 
foreigner, but is of the household of God, 
and built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ being 
the chief corner-tone. The love of God is 
shed abroad in his heart through the Holy 
Spirit which has been given unto him; 
hence his state is great and glorious, being 
a child of God. 

Still as we have seen in our investigation 
that the general experience of believers is 
in accord with the teaching of the Word 
that ordinarily they are not wholly sancti- 
fied in conversion, glorious as their state 
and experience is. They have not been en- 
tirely cleansed from the stains of "that 
corruption of human nature in which every 
offspring of Adam appears in this world, 
a condition of mind and heart which for 
want of a better term has been termed in- 
bred sin." 

Our investigation in this chapter will be : 
Whether in this life we may he saved from 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 103 

all sin, or whether the conflict with inbred 
sin, or the evil potency as it was termed by 
one, must continue till death. 

First we would state the doctrine of our 
own beloved Church on this point, a doc- 
trine which we ministers, every one of us, 
have declared we believe, and obligated 
ourselves to defend. In our excellent Dis- 
cipline we find this paragraph: "Let us 
then seriously and explicitly admonish all 
believers to strive ardently for Christian 
Perfection. And in order that we may 
teach with uniformity upon this point, let 
us determine once for all that we will un- 
animously defend and maintain this doc- 
trine, understanding by the term Christian 
Perfection nothing else than a total deliv- 
erance from all sin, in the proper sense of 
the word, which is accomplished by means 
of the love of God being perfected in the 
heart." In another paragraph we find 
the following : ' ' That such a state of grace 
is attainable even in this life, is very evi- 



104 The Great Salvation. 

dent, for Christ and all His apostles exhort 
thereto, yea, from this we learn that it is 
every Christian's bounden duty to strive 
thereafter. And how can he be a Christian, 
who does not desire to submit wholly to 
God, and to love Him in truth, with all his 
heart, and with all his strength, and with 
all the soul ? f ' The italics in the above quo- 
tations are my own. 

At the session of the General Conference 
held in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1867, the follow- 
ing declaration was unanimously adopted 
by a rising vote: 

"Resolved, That we are still convinced 
as we have hitherto been, of the Scriptural- 
ness of the Doctrine of Sanctification and 
Christian Perfection as contained in our 
book of Discipline, and delivered unto us 
by the Fathers of our Church, unanimously 
declare that we, as we have hitherto done, 
shall also in future, hold to, teach and de- 
fend the following points/ ' Among these 
points is this : ' ' That this state of Sanctifi- 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 105 

cation and Christian Perfection is attain- 
able in this life, yea, long before death, and 
may be retained unimpaired by watchful- 
ness and faithfulness, even unto the end, 
with a continual growth in grace, and pro- 
gress from glory unto glory.' ' 

In our authorized catechism we find the 
following: "Who attains to this state of 
sanctification and Christian perf ection ? ' ' 
The answer is: 

"It is the calling and privilege of every 
Christian in this life to be wholly sancti- 
fied and without blame before God in love, 
and to walk in the commandments of God. ' ' 

These quotations should be sufficient 
proof that our Church stands committed 
to this Doctrine, and that no minister nor 
member who is not in sympathy with Holi- 
ness can be in full accord with the teach- 
ings of the Evangelical Association. 

Our Church does not stand alone in its 
declarations in reference to this doctrine. 
Nor is it only the doctrine taught by the 



106 The Great Salvation. 

Churches belonging to the great Methodist 
family, but which among the Churches does 
not virtually in some form teach Holiness? 
Which of the Churches does not bind its 
members to renounce all the vanities of 
this wicked world, all the sinful lusts of 
the flesh, and all the works of the devil, 
and to keep God's commandments all the 
days of their life?— or to declare the Lord 
to be their God, promising to obey Him in 
all things, and none else, and to deny them- 
selves of all ungodliness, and every worldly 
lust, and to live soberly and righteously, 
and godly in this present evil world? Do 
these vows exacted at the altar by the min- 
isters of orthodox Christianity, not only 
imply, but demand Holiness of heart and 
life ? If such living is impossible is it not 
a crime to insist upon the obligation? 

The next great question to be determined 
is, Whether the teaching of our Church is 
in accord with the Word of God. Does the 
Bible teach that we may be saved from all 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 107 

sin in this life, or does it teach that we are 
only prisoners of hope, waiting for deliver- 
ance from our prison house, when in Death 
our spirits will leave this tenement of clay ? 
1. The purpose of God in sending His 
Son into the world is the destruction of the 
works of the devil and the salvation of 
man. This salvation includes pardon and 
life, as man is guilty and dead in trespasses 
and sins. This is not denied. Now the 
Scriptures are just as clear, just as posi- 
tive in declaring, that without holiness no 
man shall see God, as they teach the neces- 
sity of pardon. This assertion needs no 
proof at my hands. It is not only Scrip- 
tural, but it is in accordance with the fit- 
ness of things. God is absolutely pure and 
holy. Man is sinful, hence he cannot dwell 
in the presence of absolute Holiness Con- 
sequently God must have provided for the 
sanctification of man in the economy of the 
Gospel. Thank God He has made this pro- 
vision. The Scriptures are so abundant in 



108 The Great Salvation. 

their testimony on this doctrine that it 
seems difficult to select from the over- 
whelming proof for a brief statement. We 
read, "Christ loved the Church, and gave 
himself for it, that He might sanctify and 
cleanse it with the washing of water by the 
Word, that he might present it to him- 
self a glorious Church, not having spot or 
wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it 
should be holy and without blemish." At 
another place we read: "He gave himself 
that he might redeem us from all in- 
iquity. ' ' Again we read : ' ' But if we walk 
in the light as he is in the light, we have 
fellowship one with another, and the blood 
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from 
all sin." We also read: "Where sin 
abounded, grace did much more abound." 
Also : " If the blood of bulls and goats * # * 
how much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered 
himself without spot to God, purge your 
conscience from dead works to serve the 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 109 

living God?" One passage more and we 
will be content: "According as he hath 
chosen us in him before the foundation of 
the world that we should be holy and with- 
out blame before him in love." 

What shall we say to these things? If 
the provisions of grace fall short of saving 
men from sin and restoring them to per- 
fect love, then sin would abound— be 
mightier than grace. The disease would 
surpass the power of the remedy. The 
effects of the fall in Eden would be too 
great to be overcome by the power of the 
Cross. . Indeed, to apprehend a failure on 
the part of the efficacy of the blood of 
Christ to save from sin would be calling 
into question the wisdom, the power, the 
foresight, the veracity and the faithfulness 
of God. Who is willing thus to array him- 
self against the Almighty? Is not the "self- 
confidence" sometimes charged against 
those who believe this doctrine rather to 
be found among its opponents, who claim 



110 The Great Salvation. 

to be wise above what is written—yea, 
against what is written, and who make the 
Word of God of none effect by their own 
metaphysical doubts and teachings? 

2. If the purpose of God in sending His 
Son into the world is the salvation of men, 
and if He hath sent forth His Spirit to be 
the Sanctifier of men, and if He hath or- 
dained the ministry of reconciliation for 
the same end, namely, the " perfecting of 
the saints ;" then our sanctification must 
be the will of God. However, we need not 
argue this from analogy only as the Scrip- 
tures so teach in unmistakable language. 
We read: "And be not conformed to this 
world; but be ye transformed by the re- 
newing of your mind, that ye may prove 
what is that good and acceptable and per- 
fect will of God; "Who gave himself for 
our sins that He might deliver us from this 
present evil world according to the will of 
God and our Father ; ' ' " Epaphras, who is 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. Ill 

one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth 
you, always laboring fervently for you in 
prayers, that ye may stand perfect and 
complete in all the will of God;" "That 
he no longer should live the rest of his 
time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but 
to the will of God;" "It is the will of 
God even your Sanctification." God wills 
the holiness of His people. In order that 
His will might be fulfilled in us, He gives 
His only Begotten as our Eansom. He 
sends forth His Spirit into the world. He 
institutes the Christian ministry to cry, 
"Behold the Lamb, which taketh away the 
sin of the world." He organizes His 
Church on earth and appoints all necessary 
means of grace in order to save His people 
from their sins. Who will arise and limit 
the power of God ? His willingness implies 
His ability. His power to do must be com- 
mensurate with His disposition to will. 

Here again we find such a fund of Scrip- 
tural authority that only a few passages 



112 The Great Salvation, 

can be cited. We read: "And God is able 
to make all grace abound toward yon, that 
ye always having all sufficiency in all 
things, may abound in every good work." 
This indeed is a wonderfully comprehen- 
sive promise and ought to silence every 
doubt. 'And to know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be 
filled with all the fullness of God, now 
unto Him that is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
according to the power that worketh in 
us." "Wherefore he is able also to save 
them to the uttermost that come unto God 
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make in- 
tercession for them." Perhaps, among the 
mighty words in which the Scriptures 
abound there is none so full and grand as 
this word "Uttermost." It is easy to see 
that it is composed of two words, utter and 
most. Utter means total, complete, entire, 
perfect; most means to the utmost extent, 



Sanctification Attainable in this Life. 113 

the superlative degree, the furthest point. 
By putting the words into one we certainly 
have full and present salvation taught as 
clearly and positively as language can 
make it. It seems really no English word 
can fully express the meaning of the origi- 
nal. Translators are puzzled to find a 
proper word. Dr. Mahan translates "to 
all perfection." In the Dutch Bible it is 
rendered "perfectly;" in the German 
"immerdar"— "for ever;" in the Catholic 
"eternally," and by Dr. Stier "most com- 
pletely." Dr. Clarke says: "The original 
word seems to combine the two ideas of 
continuity and utmost completeness ; hence 
Jesus is able to save for ever to the ut- 
most." This is not unlike Luther's trans- 
lation: "Immerdar," always, under all 
circumstances, and at all times, all that 
come to God by him. If this does not 
teach as our Discipline teaches, "deliver- 
ance from all sin," "long before death," 



114 The Great Salvation. 

yea, even now, what does the Holy Ghost 
desire to teach? 

Are we not ready, with Daniel of old, to 
say, "Our God whom we serve is able to 
deliver us?" 

'* "Tis the grandest theme through the ages rung, 
,r Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue, 
,r Tis the grandest theme that the world ever 
sung, 
Our God is able to deliver thee." 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 115 



Chapter XII. 

HOW MAY WE ATTAIN UNTO THE 
BLESSING OF PERFECT LOVE. 

1. We must have a good starting point. 
Although in these pages attention has been 
several times called to the necessity of a 
clear definite experience in conversion in 
order to reach the goal of Perfect Love, no 
apology is made if this important matter is 
once more referred to. Entire Sanctifica- 
tion or spiritual perfection in a human soul 
can only be accomplished through the re- 
communication to it of the life of God 
which was lost through the rebellious ac- 
tion of the first man, Adam. Every ef- 
fort and every hope apart from this re- 
communication to rise to a lofty Christian 
character is doomed to failure. Culture 
of which we hear so much, and development 
of our own inherent energies, a Gospel so 



116 The Great Salvation. 

loudly proclaimed in these days, are great 
and good for many purposes, but can only 
be applicable so far as Salvation is con- 
cerned to the man who has been born of 
God, otherwise this "Gospel" is a mislead- 
ing mockery. A man must be "a man in 
Christ" before he can rationally hope to 
be presented perfect in Christ Jesus. He 
must first be changed by the grace of God 
from "a miserable sinner" to a saint, be- 
fore he can become "a perfect saint." 
The man who starts out to fight the corrup- 
tions of his nature and the pollutions of 
this present evil world, backed by the whole 
strength of the empire of evil, without hav- 
ing first received the forgiveness of sins, 
and without being transformed by the 
spirit of God and translated into the king- 
dom of Jesus Christ, is like a general who 
would begin a campaign with a hostile 
enemy in his rear and on his flanks, and 
without a base of supplies. ' ' And you that 
were sometime alienated and enemies in 



The Blessing of Perfect Love, 117 

your mind by wicked works, yet now hath 
he reconciled, in the body of his flesh 
through death. ' ' This is the glorious grand 
starting point. "To present you holy and 
unblamable and unreprovable in his 
sight. ' ' This latter is the glorious goal ! 

It cannot be denied that some unguarded 
writers, and some irresponsible so-called 
evangelists have made very light of the 
justified and regenerate state, expressing 
themselves in a loose unskilful style, and 
thereby bringing reproach upon the cause 
of Christ, and especially upon the doctrine 
of full salvation, but this doctrinal and 
practical error I do not believe can truth- 
fully be charged to the ministry of our be- 
loved Church. We believe in a real gen- 
uine work of grace in conversion, in which 
there has been conviction and contrition, 
and a shout of glory for salvation. 

2. At this point we will once more quote 
from our Discipline: "Experience has 
moreover taught, that this state of Chris- 



118 The Great Salvation. 

tian perfection is attained gradually, by 
an upright course of life in following 
Christ/' Upright is defined thus, "Hon- 
nest, just; andhering to moral rectitude in 
all social intercourse; not deviating from 
correct moral principles." Does this 
doctrine not fully agree with the Scrip- 
tures 1 ' ' Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill ? 
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
righteousness." "He that walketh right- 
eously and speaketh uprightly * * he shall 
dwell on high, his place of defense shall 
be the munition of rocks." "If we walk 
in the light, as God is in the light. " .... 
Is there anything that is a greater abomi- 
nation in the sight of God than dishonesty ? 
Can any one entertain the hope of attain- 
ing unto Perfect Love who is engaged in a 
dishonest business or dishonest practices ? 
Can any one who does not adhere to the 
truth in his public or private statements 
expect God to hear a prayer for heart 
cleansing unless he first confesses his sins 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 119 

and gets right with God ? ' ' If I regard ini- 
quity in my heart God will not hear me." 
There may be much ignorance, and infirmi- 
ties almost without end, but when men do 
not walk in the truth, do not walk in the 
light, but in darkness, how can they ap- 
proach unto God with any degree of confi- 
dence? The heavens become brass to the 
prayers of men and women who do not 
walk uprightly before God. Before any 
one can receive the blessing of a pure heart 
he must put aside deceit and fraud of all 
kinds, and at least resolve to make restitu- 
tion as far as lies in his power. Unto the 
upright there ariseth light in the dark- 
ness. ' ' 

Moreover no one can hope to attain unto 
entire sanctification who indulges in doubt- 
ful diversions, "such diversions as cannot 
be practiced in the name of Jesus." This 
quotation is from our excellent Discipline. 
Does it not also agree with the teaching of 
the Word of God? Is it not noteworthy 



120 The Great Salvation. 

that St. Paul just previous to writing that 
glorious and soul-inspiring passage in 1 
Thess. 5: 23. and 24. "The very God of 
peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God 
your whole spirit, soul and body, be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our 
Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that cal- 

LETH YOU WHO ALSO WILL DO IT," first Wrote 

down this necessary condition, "Abstain 
from all appearance of evil." Not only 
from what is generally accepted as being 
evil, but from that also which seems to be 
evil. And as the world lieth in wickedness, 
and friendship with the world is enmity 
with God, and Christians are not to be 
conformed to the world, it ought to be very 
easy to determine what diversions we can- 
not have and do in the name of Jesus, the 
man of sorrows, who was despised and re- 
jected by the world, and is still rejected by 
the world. Is it very likely that a person 
"who earnestly desires to be saved from all 
sin," who hungers and thirsts after right- 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 121 

eousness, and the promise to be filled is 
only given to those who hunger and thirst, 
would be found in the lewd associations of 
the theatre, or be light minded enough to 
play cards, or whirl around the ball room. 
These things are not only unbecoming to 
a Christian, yea entirely beneath his dig- 
nity as a member of Christ's household and 
an heir of glory; but they destroy all de- 
sire for conformity to the will and image 
of God and create a spirit of indifference 
and rob those who indulge in those things 
of the peace of God and the witness of the 
Spirit. 

3. It should hardly be necessary to say 
that the person who is striving to be holy 
will also if circumstances permit regularly 
attend upon the means of grace. He will 
study the Scriptures in order to find out 
what the will of God concerning men is. 
He will not neglect his private devotions 
and intercourse with God. He will meet 
with God's people in the social prayerroom, 



122 The Great Salvation. 

for his Master whom he loves and whom he 
serves has promised to be there to meet him. 
He will not allow anything but unavoidable 
circumstances to keep him away from the 
house of God on the holy day of the Lord. 
One of the purposes of the Christian min- 
istry being the perfecting of the saints, 
hence he wants to partake of the bread and 
water of life, and worship and commune 
with God, and he will also cheerfully in ac- 
cordance as God hath prospered him sup- 
port the cause of Christ at home and 
abroad. 

For the life of me I cannot see how any 
one can exercise the faith that lays hold 
upon God and make the required consecra- 
tion who for a long while perhaps has been 
camping like Issachar between the borders, 
and hence hath not walked with God. Such 
an one needs to do the first works over and 
get into right relations with God. 

4. There must be complete submission to 
the will of God. We will allow our Dis- 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 123 

cipline to speak again. "He that would 
fully comply with those exhortations," 
namely to be perfect as your Father in 
heaven is perfect, "must be wholly resigned 
to the will of God," he must bear every- 
thing that may befall him as from the hand 
of the Lord, or he cannot meet every ad- 
versity with acquiescence and resignation, 
much less with gratitude. 

Perhaps we may be excused for saying 
that in our investigation we are about to 
enter into the most holy place, into the in- 
ner sanctuary of our being, into the very 
life of our being, where the axe of our Lord 
is to be laid to the root. The life is in the 
blood which courses through our bodies, so 
our spiritual life is in the affections, in the 
energies which send their sap through the 
whole thinking, feeling being. This root 
of the tree of man's life, the will of man, 
which is and must be surrendered, surren- 
dered unconditionally, and for all time 
to the Lord as complete Lord of all within 



124 The Great Salvation, 

and without. The efficacy of the sufferings 
of Christ is not only ascribed by the sacred 
writers to the greatness of His Person, but 
also because His sacrifice was free, conscious 
and willing. Christ had chosen His own 
destiny. "Lo I come, in the volume of the 
book it is written of me to do Thy will, 
God." I have power to lay down my life." 
He knew the end from the beginning and 
walked toward that end in perfect freedom. 
His fulfilment of His Fathers will was al- 
together voluntary. There existed alone 
the compulsion of love for fallen humanity 
and the glory of God. 

Must not the disciple be as his Master 
and the servant as his Lord ? The doctrine 
of our Lord is, He that loseth his life for 
my sake shall find it. "Moved by the mer- 
cies of God present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. ' ' The 
need of sacrifice is not taken away, only its 
nature changed, deepened and exalted. 
Mild as is the genius of the New Dispensa- 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 125 

tion, the knife goes closer to the heart than 
in that of the former. " All that a man hath 
will he give for his life," and it is this very 
life which Christ asks us to lay down for 
Him. And let it be understood once for all 
there will be no perfect Rest, nor perfect 
Peace, nor perfect Deliverance, until the 
believer settles on this firm foundation, and 
is completely drawn to this Magnet. 

The more clearly we follow Christ, the 
more perserveringly we harbor the desire 
to be like Him, the more intensely in our 
very being we will say whithersoever He 
leadeth will I follow, the nearer we come 
to the crisis, to the supreme hour, when 
there will be a full awakening to the antag- 
onism between grace and nature, between 
our disposition and choice, and God's will 
and way, and seeing no deliverance else- 
where, we will exclaim, Let us go unto 
Him, that we may also die with Him. 

And in this supreme hour, may I also 
say sad hour, and yet full of glory and joy 



126 The Great Salvation. 

and gladness, Faith, all conquering Faithj 
lays hold upon the Arm of Omnipotence, 
and our Deliverance from all sin is com- 
plete, and we are wholly sanctified, sancti- 
fied through and through, sanctified inside 
and outside, through the Blood of the ever- 
lasting Covenant, even the Blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose 

BLOOD NOW CLEANSETH FROM ALL SIN ! 

How shall we escape if we neglect so 
great Salvation? 

"0 that my people had hearkened unto 
me, that Israel had walked in my ways. 
I should soon have subdued their enemies, 
and turned my hand against their advers- 
aries," and after this follows: "I should 
have fed them with the finest wheat flour, 
and with honey out of the stony rock 
should I have satisfied them." 

ye young people of our beloved 
Church, ye men of middle age, and ye 
fathers and mothers of the Evangelical 
Association behold the promised land of 



The Blessing of Perfect Love. 127 

plenty and peace and power that lies be- 
fore you, the birthright of your promised 
posession. Why linger by the way side, 
stop and lose time by philosophical discus- 
sions, let us go up and possess the Land 
which the Lord our God has said He would 
give unto us. 

Behold now is the accepted time, behold 
now is the day of Salvation. 



FEB 27 1909 



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